Comfort Comes in All Forms
by karjens44
Summary: Regina receives comfort from an unexpected source. I also wish to thank everyone who reviewed, read and favorited my first stories. I can be found at as well.


Title: Comfort Comes In All Forms

By: KJ

Fandom: OUAT

Pairing: Regina X Wolf Ruby

Rating: G (may possibly be a swear or two, but mild)

Words: 1904

Disclaimer: Own nothing connected to OUAT and am simply using them for entertainment.

Spoilers: Stable Boy and basically everything up until now. (Just to be safe)

Author's Note: In the absence of the Swan part of Swan Queen, watching the playful camaraderie with Meghan, Lana (and Emilie) at Comic-Con…and after seeing an article where Lana mentions the Queen would love to have a pet wolf, this idea popped into my head. I am a Swan Queen shipper, but I also am leaning toward the Red Queen ship as well. I'm waiting for the writers to have Red and Regina interact at some point. I think it's needed. Anyway, this is at the moment a one-shot but if there are any ideas of how to proceed next, please let me know and I can continue?

Regina Mills sensed the wolf even before she heard the low growl coming from the darkness. She tensed but otherwise made no indication of it as she continued to look up at the starry sky from her lounge chair next to her beloved tree.

After her final encounter with Daniel, Regina had barely been able to bear the silence in her large empty home. Henry had yet to even call her, nor anyone else for that matter, with the surprising exception of Ruby Lucas.

As deputy to David Nolan's inept attempt at playing Sherriff, she'd been told at least a portion of what had happened at the stables and to Regina's amazement, she came by the house to make sure Regina was alright. Even Henry hadn't attempted to find out who the man was that tried to hurt him or why his mother had fought so hard to save him.

Regina had of course abruptly told the wild young waitress to mind her own business and that if she felt the need to bare her soul, she'd do it to someone far more qualified and who understood the concept of decorum. The harshness of her insults had even made Regina feel slightly ashamed of herself, but Ruby had just studied her for a moment, offered a knowing smile and left without offering even a matching insult.

After she'd left, Regina had spent the rest of the afternoon, doing anything at all that took her mind off of what she'd done and the agony of losing Daniel all over again, not to mention the pain of knowing she'd lost her son as well. Eventually, once every room in the massive house had been thoroughly cleaned and her body was screaming with exhaustion, Regina thought perhaps she'd be able to sleep. Of course, as soon as she'd laid down in her bed, Daniels sweet face looking at her with so much love it nearly sent her to her knees, just before he begged her to let him go.

As the memory of waving her hand and sending Daniel away for good played over and over, Regina had accepted that sleep was going to pass her by again. She tossed the covers off of her and after preparing a cup of tea, she headed outside to the only place that had ever given her peace. The only place that connected her with one person who had ever really loved her. Pulling her silk robe tighter, she reclined on the outdoor sofa near her apple tree and focused her thoughts on the happy times she'd spent with her Daniel.

Feeling the creature drawing closer, she turned to glance at the large beautiful animal almost indifferently.

"This really isn't a good time, puppy," she said haughtily, chuckling at the almost offended snort that came from the wolf as if it had understood her. The wolf bared it's teeth and stalked closer to Regina who just laughed softly, welcoming the amusement that was gradually pushing out the overwhelming sadness.

"Oh my dear, I'm not afraid of you," she drawled pleasantly, taking a sip of tea as if she were holding a meeting and not at all phased when the growling grew louder.

The wolf grew brazen and approached Regina, slowly with it's ears back and unusual golden eyes locked on Regina's curious ones.

After an extended staring contest, the let out what sounded like an resigned huff before sitting on it's haunches, within touching distance of the bemused woman.

"Well, make yourself at home," Regina commented drily, but did nothing to run the wolf off. She found its presence unexpectedly soothing. The two had spent the next hour in an oddly companionable silence before the wolf abruptly got to it's feet and trotted off. It had been a bizarre yet strangely comforting encounter leaving Regina in no doubt of who her visitor truly was and when she went back to bed; she finally managed to drift off to a dreamless sleep.

The following day her dark thoughts and frustrations of trying to find a way to bring back Emma and Snow were interspersed with memories of a reputedly fearsome wolf sitting beside her like a tame pet and watching her curiously. Regina had been surprised that those memories helped calm her when she came close to losing her infamous temper and blowing up random parts of the house.

On a hunch, Regina had returned the next night and as she expected, the wolf reappeared. This time the animal hadn't bothered with the show of fierceness, just walked straight to Regina and sat down beside her. As before, Regina kept her suspicions to herself and let the oddly docile wolf's company relax her until it decided it was time to leave and again Regina had gone back to bed to sleep the rest of the night undisturbed with only flashes of concerned eyes passing through her mind.

The following day Regina had spent the morning debating on whether she should act on what she knew about her nocturnal visitor, but eventually decided that against her better judgment, she had no desire to risk scaring off the only being that seemed to recognize another lost soul. So instead, Regina had spent the day researching possible ways to repay the wolf, actually relieved that she was alone so that there were no witnesses to her humiliating weakness.

When midnight rolled around, Regina once again made her way to the lounger by the apple tree. However this time she was deliberately waiting for her guest, knowing that this would be the last chance she'd have to 'thank' the wolf who had provided a comfort she'd sorely needed without the invasive questions and false sympathy that usually came with it.

She was midway through her tea when she realized her unexpected companion was late. Maybe she'd decided that sitting with a depressed former Queen couldn't compare with running free in the forest, not that Regina could blame her. Sometimes she envied the wolves of the forest. They had their freedom to run and hunt yet had the companionship of the pack. They were graceful, beautiful and fiercely protective. It hadn't been a difficult decision to agree to Graham's request to put a halt on killing wolves in the Enchanted Forest.

_Graham. _Regina sighed. If she regretted anything she'd done, it was crushing the heart of the gentle huntsman. It was something she'd never truly wanted to do, but when he'd all but called her nothing, it had hurt her more than she ever would have imagined, mainly because it poked at the wounds Henry's continued rejection had inflicted upon her and she reacted the only way she knew how.

Regina swore softly as she realized her useless emotions were threatening to take over again. She checked her watch. It was late, growing colder and her four-legged friend apparently wasn't going to show. It looked like if she wanted sleep this night, something stronger than tea was in order.

A wet lick on her fingers had Regina gasping in shock and dropping her tea. "Damnit," she muttered, relieved the cup had fallen on the soft grass and didn't shatter. The fact that the wolf had to jump back to avoid having it land on her paws eased Regina's temper somewhat and drew a smile to her face.

"Well that should teach you not to sneak up and lick people Miss Lucas," Regina said smoothly, once her heart had stopped racing.

The wolf bared her teeth though she didn't growl and Regina had no doubt the waitress/werewolf was smirking at her.

"You realize that sooner or later I'll be talking to you about these visits," Regina commented as she watched the wolf lazily clean her paws of the tea that had splashed on them. For some reason she found that ridiculously adorable.

"Hm. It's a rare opportunity to have Ruby Lucas without a witty comeback," Regina continued, sensing Ruby's frustration at her inability to respond and growing amused by it.

"So am I correct in assuming that you can understand me?" Regina asked curiously, not surprised when the wolf nodded her big head.

"So then you've learned to control it? I'm very impressed Miss Lucas. And between you and me, I'm also envious, though if you mention that to anyone, I'll have you fixed." She smirked at the narrowing of Ruby eyes and then decided that perhaps it wouldn't be so difficult to reveal this one thing to a wolf that couldn't tell her how weak she was and possibly wouldn't remember it anyway come the morning.

"I like magic," she said quietly. "I love the power and I love knowing that nobody will ever again manipulate me into being what they want me to be. Unfortunately, it scares Henry and he wants me to stop using it, but it's not that easy. Some…Dr. Hopper….call it an addiction, but it's not. It's not like smoking or drinking. Magic is part of who I am and asking me not to use it is like asking you not to transform during the full moon." Regina sighed and leaned her head back, keeping her eyes on the moon instead of the probing ones watching her intently.

"It's been so hard," she continued quietly. "Daniel meant everything to me. It destroyed me watching him die at the hands of my mother, but this time it was me. I killed him and that coming on the heels of trying to force Henry to stay with me against his will just cemented that no matter what I do, I'm not just like my mother. I've become her and I don't know if I can live with that."

Regina paused and considered the wisdom of bearing her soul to a werewolf. Then she felt wetness against her hand. She was startled to see Wolf Ruby's nose nudging her hand before plopping its head on her lap. Regina found her heart melting a little as she gently scratched behind Ruby's ears.

"I don't understand you," she admitted with a hint of frustration lacing her voice. "You have the perfect opportunity to rid the town of the Evil Queen forever and they'd probably throw a parade in your honor. Oh sure, we both know that if I wanted, I could easily turn you into a fire hydrant," she smirked at the imagery and the stiffening of the wolf's body, "However, as poetic as that would be, I won't, because for some inexplicable reason Henry seems to like you. So, here I am. The revenge that all the self-righteous people of Storybrooke have been clamoring for is sitting inches away, with no means of defense, so what are you waiting for?"

Ruby stared at Regina for a long moment a disturbing understanding flashing in her lupine eyes and then to the former Mayor's shock, the deadly wolf let out a small whine and then nudged at the hand that had fallen back to her lap and offering another lick that could be taken as nothing but comfort.

Regina didn't understand it, but the simple gesture caused her heart to ache and tears to sting her eyes.

"I will most likely regret this the next time I see you in town although I'm sure you won't like having it get out that you had your ears scratched by the Evil Queen either," she chuckled at the short bark that came from the wolf in reply, "but you've made these last few days…well, thank you …Ruby," she said sincerely, stroking her hand once more over the soft fur before the wolf once again ran off into the darkness.


End file.
